Kabul, 28 October 2015 - The Central Statistics Organization (CSO) and the United Nations Population Fund celebrated today the World Statistics Day under the theme "Better data, better lives", in the presence of Ahmad Zia Massoud, the Special Representative to the President for Reform and Good Governance; Abdul Satar Murad, Minister of Economy; Dr Nasrin Oryakhil, Minister of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled; and Deputy Ministers of the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock.

This was the first time Afghanistan commemorated the World Statistics Day, showing the commitment of the Government towards gaining and providing accurate data that is essential for developing sound policies that affect the daily lives and wellbeing of Afghans.

"Statistics and data is needed for a society to develop. We have to know the percentage of unemployment and the number of women and other socio-economic groups participating in the political and economic decision making. With accurate data available, we can develop sound and accurate policies based on the actual needs of people", said Ahmad Zia Massoud. The need for the commitment of the Afghan Government for further collaboration and cooperation with CSO and the importance of utilization of data by both the public and the private sector and further strengthening data systems was stressed by all other Afghan Ministers and Deputy Ministers during the event.

"We are facing a lot of difficulties, especially when it comes to security. Just recently we stopped our activities in Jawzjan province because our cartographers could not cover more than four districts," said Sher Mohammad Jamizada, President General of CSO, during his remarks. "Besides safety of our staff, we have also a shortage of financial means. But thanks to the financial support of donors we can carry out our work."

The United Nations Population Fund provides technical support to CSO, for improving survey planning, data collection, processing, analysis and data dissemination. On this day the UN urges all partners and stakeholders to work together to ensure that the necessary investments are made, adequate technical capacity is built, new data sources are explored and innovative processes are applied to give all countries the comprehensive information systems they need to achieve sustainable development.
As Afghanistan moves from monitoring the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is need for a data revolution and to tap into new ways of collecting data, building on different sources of data use of big data and open data sources.

"Afghanistan is already exploring the use of remote sensing data and geo-statistical modelling techniques for population estimation. We call on all partners to work together with the Government to ensure that data is collected, analysed and used for the good of all its people", stated Dr Annette Sachs Robertson, UNFPA Country Representative for Afghanistan.